Digging Out and Looking Forward

Yesterday's silhoutted sunset belies the ferocity of Sunday's storm

That nor’easter, the ferocity of which just about caught everyone by surprise is gone, but it created havoc all over New Jersey as it roared through our area.   I can’t speak for you, but I am bushed!  I need a good snow blower!

The Bergeron clan was to have gathered at our Bridgewater home the Sunday after Christmas for our traditional holiday get-together celebration.

However, in the notable and often-repeated lament of Robert, the unappreciated brother in the TV comedy series, Everybody Loves Raymond, “It was not meant to be!”  The blizzard kept our travelling family guests from incurring what would have been an unacceptable risk.

Not to worry though.  Flexibility is the name of the game.  In that spirit, we have all reset the timing for New Year’s Day:  The same cast of characters will gather instead at Denise and Jim’s place, where both had previously planned an open house to fête the arrival of the New Year.  Friends, in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles will congregate at the invitation of our gracious hosts.  Until then, the Christmas gifts remain unwrapped.

Backyard Adirondack chairs await the return of warm summer days.

I hope that all y’all (that’s Texas-speak for ‘everybody’) are not experiencing a case of the post-holiday blues and that you are looking forward to a fulfilling 2011.  

Nonetheless, there is a need to acknowledge that it’s really tough out there for a very large segment of our brothers and sisters.

If you are so inclined, do whatever you can to help by extending yourselves in any way that you feel is appropriate, however modest your effort might be.  

It’s amazing how just a little outreach – a kind word, an unexpected deed here or there – can lift the spirits of the most disheartened among us.

Thanks for reading.  Remain hopeful for the New Year and remember, stay engaged.

Christmas in Bridgewater

A Christmas dawn burnishes a ridgeline in Bridgewater

Blessings can be evanescent – here one moment, gone the next.  They will catch you totally unprepared as they sweep across your path with their graciousness.

I stumbled upon just such a blessing of nature early this morning when, after I had walked down the driveway to pick up the newspapers, I turned and began the gradual walk up to the house. 

It was then that it happened:  As I neared the end of patio leading to the stairs that would bring me to the front door, I glanced to the right and was surprised by an intensely pink dawn covering the entire eastern section of a Bridgewater ridgeline.

It was all over within a minute or two, but it was a soul-filling moment of nature while it lasted.  Luckily, it didn’t escape until after I had hurried into the house for my camera.

May you have a Blessed Christmas day, a greeting extended to those of goodwill from all faiths.

(Note:  Click on photo for a full-sized view.)

Christmas Wishes Fulfilled

Santa Claus at work before Christmas in the Mall's Atrium

Christmas in Somerset County, New Jersey, is a season during which expectations for giving and receiving can rise to great heights.  

However, not everyone – even in this area known for its affluence – can afford to buy gifts for all of the deserving kids of all ages in our communities. 

There still remain many pockets of poverty in these environs.  Similarly, lowered levels of income and unemployment brought on by the 2008 financial bubble are sobering reminders of these facts. 

For those reasons, it’s been enormously gratifying to see the generous public response from people like you to the Salvation Army’s “Angel Tree” gift giving initiative which, each year, is supported by the management of the Bridgewater Commons Mall.

Gifts accumulate in fulfillment of "Angle Tree" wishes.

You have transformed the wish tags from one of the two trees strategically placed in the Mall into a Christmas reality for someone.  

There really is a Santa Claus, and it’s been you.   That big red box near the Guest Services counter filled with gifts is the proof.

To those who were able to participate, thanks for having spread Holiday cheer for individuals who otherwise might have been left “unwished.” 

There is, of course, a much deeper meaning to Christmas, but the hospitality associated with your gift giving is a part of it.

So, at the risk of overstating the sentiment, thanks again for your generosity.

Local Athletic Associations Donate Turf Field

A highly positive note was struck at Tuesday evening’s Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education meeting when Dr. Arvind Mathur, Chairman of the Board’s Facilities Committee, announced that the Bridgewater Soccer Association, Inc., and Bridgewater Lacrosse, Inc., both non-profit organizations, were donating $500,000 for a new turf playing field at the High School.

Expected to be ready by spring, 2011, the artificial turf field will be located on the site of an existing grass playing field located behind the bleachers of Basilone Field, facing towards the High School.  The topsoil currently in place will be skimmed off, seeded, and used for a grassy viewing area immediately around the turf field, according to Mathur.

The BR-BOE voted unanimously to approve a resolution accepting this donation.  The resolution which was introduced by Dr. Mathur reads in part:

“The donors have agreed to pay for all costs associated with the development and construction of the Project, including, but not limited to, the cost of the turf field and the installation thereof, testing, design costs, professional fees, permits, land use approvals, if required, and for any unforeseen conditions, including, but not limited to, delay or other claims made by contractors on the Project.”

The two-page legalese document goes on to cover other detailed aspects of the agreement.  It appears to leave no possibility for the Board to end up with major expenses associated with this project.  

Board President, Jeffrey Brookner, commented that, “We have the land and no money.  They have money and no land.  It’s a marriage made in Heaven.”

Board Bites Bullet: No Salary Increase in Budget

At a Tuesday evening meeting in the Wade Building in Martinsville, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education rolled out a proposed general fund operating school budget of $127.9 million for the next school year, 2011-2012.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Schilder, who walked the public through a 19-page PowerPoint presentation, underscored the fact that for the first time that I can remember, the school budget contains no provision whatsoever for salary increases for any of the three major associations whose wage contracts all expire on June 30^th, 2011 – zero.  The proposed budget does, however, contain an increase for benefits.

The bargaining units in question are the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA), the Bridgewater-Raritan Principals Association (BRPA), and the Bridgewater Raritan Supervisors Association (BRSA). 

Later in the meeting, Board President Jeffrey Brookner read a prepared statement in which he explained that Board representatives already “. . . have met separately in negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.”  Mr. Brookner went on to say that “The Board representatives met three times with the Principals and twice with the Supervisors, but were unsuccessful in reaching a successor agreement.”

“As a result,” Brookner continued, “the parties will defer further discussions until after formulation of the 2011-2012 budget.”

It appears that the principals and supervisors have walked away from the table.

Formal negotiations have not yet begun with the BREA, although an association representative was present at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

Bridgewater and Raritan’s Board of Education just fired shots across the bows of the ships of its labor unions. Message:   The purse strings are tightening up and there is no more cash in the till.

 If this Board is serious about defending the position that it has taken Tuesday evening, it will need all of the public support that it can get.

The opposition could be fierce.  

Smith: Board Member and Letter Writer

One of the characteristics that I like about Al Smith, Raritan’s elected representative to Bridgewater-Raritan’s Board of Education, is that from time to time he will pen a letter-to-the-editor which appears in both the print and Internet versions of the Courier News.

To insure that he does not incur the disapproval of the Board, he always closes his letters with a statement that he is writing on his own behalf, and that his views don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of either the BR-BOE or those of the Somerset County Education Services Committee upon which he also sits.

Al Smith Speaks at the May, 2010, Township/BR-BOE  Meeting

I wish that more Board members would follow his example, because we the public would acquire a better insight into the personal thinking of individual Board members. 

Interested citizens should not have to attend every Board meeting to get to know how Board members feel on issues, some of which may never come up in formal discussions at Board meetings.

It’s not important that one agrees or disagrees with what a Board member such as Al Smith has to say in an op-ed letter.  I often have a different view from that of Al.  But that does not matter.  What does is that he expresses his opinions in writing, in public, for the record, and unexpurgated by the Board.  

For that, I am grateful.

Thanks for reading and stay engaged.  It can be tough out there.

Not Alone

In my last blog post, I criticized the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and its Administration for placing on its agenda the first presentation of the 2011/2012 school budget during Christmas week.  

I wrote that this is inappropriate because the timing is squarely “in the heart of the last week of the Advent Season,” and is much too close to Christmas Eve, “a night when many Christians choose to begin the official celebration of one of the two most holy days in all of Christendom.”

Any lingering doubts that I may have had about reproaching elected school officials for that ill-timed agenda item were completely dispelled this morning when I read the following account in The Wall Street Journal, that U.S. Senator  and Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona called to account Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for loading up the Senate agenda at the last minute:

“The year-end tensions erupted after Mr. Kyl criticized Democrats’ attempts to pass several bills as Christmas approaches.  He said Mr. Reid was “disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians.”

Amen to that.  I am encouraged to have discovered these sentiments also being expressed in the nation’s Capitol building.

A Lump of Coal for the School Board

If events go as scheduled, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education will present to the public an abbreviated version of the fiscal year 2011-2012 school budget on Tuesday, December 21^st, at its regularly scheduled meeting. 

In a short e-mail issued by the school superintendent on November 24^th, the board’s rationale is given for suspending its prior practice of presenting a preliminary detailed line item budget.

Early this evening, during a brief phone discussion with Lynne Hurley, Chairperson of the Board’s Finance Committee, Lynne clarified that on Tuesday, “We will give as much detail as possible, considering that we don’t yet have much information from the state.” 

She was referring to the fact that The State of New Jersey has not yet released its financial aid numbers, making precise budget planning very difficult indeed.

But in this post, I’d like to concentrate on timing, not numbers.  Specifically, December 21^st, the date picked for the presentation of the school budget – albeit abbreviated and incomplete – will occur during Christmas week. 

That is in the heart of the last week of the Advent Season, the culmination of a time of reflection and anticipation for Christians.  It is also a mere 72 hours before Christmas Eve, a night when many Christians choose to begin the official celebration of one of the two most holy days in all of Christendom. 

Although not individually responsible for picking the December 21^st date, Lynne Hurley was responsive enough to call back this evening to explain that these board budget meetings have in recent times occurred “on the third Tuesday of December”  which, this year, falls on the 21^st. 

I understand.  But it’s not sufficient reason for the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and its Administration not to have anticipated that this year, the third Tuesday of December falls squarely in the middle of Christmas week, and to recognize that this is not an appropriate date for as significant a matter as key data for a budget that will significantly exceed $100 million to be presented to the public for the first time.

I see nothing nefarious in the BR-BOE’s inauspicious timing.  Indeed I suspect that perhaps no one on the board or in the administration may have thought this through. 

But that’s the whole point isn’t it?  No one thought it through.

Author’s Note:  The board of education is presented with a calendar of projected meeting dates early in the year by the board secretary and votes as a whole to approve those dates or to modify them.  During the year, meeting dates can be altered by board vote.

Holding at a School Bus Stop

I didn’t expect any particular incident on my way to jury duty in Somerville this morning, but something bizarre and potentially very unsafe occurred that left me totally dumfounded about the lengths to which human nature can go:

In Bridgewater, as I turned onto Papen Road, I noticed a stopped school bus ahead with its lights flashing – nothing unusual there.  As I approached the bus, I slowed down and stopped behind it. 

Its lights continued to flash; the bus was at an idling stop; no other children were embarking.  About half a dozen parents stood by, chatting with one another on the sidewalk near the front door of the bus, their children already on board.

The rear and side safety lights of the idling bus continued to flash with no children in sight nearby.  This is getting to be a long time for a school bus to stay put at a stop with no kids getting on, I thought. 

Next, the sound of a car horn beeping behind me interrupted the quiet of the morning, followed by more demanding beeps.

Then that car passed me to the right, next to the sidewalk, much too close to me for comfort and stopped, as my own car stood motionless behind the school bus.

I could barely believe what followed:  The parent of that car threw open the driver-side door, ran past the front of it; opened the passenger-side door for a child to get out; hurriedly pulled out a backpack from the rear seat; and escorted both to the front of the waiting school bus where the child got on.

The parent ran back to her car which shouldn’t have been where it was, e.g. stationed behind the bus and slightly ahead of mine, parallel and to the right – a very dangerous overall situation.

Bus drivers have a really tough job.  They shouldn’t have to deal with parents who don’t get their children to a bus stop on time, yet apparently expect the driver to wait unreasonably. Such behavior not only presents a serious accident hazard, but is against school board rules.  

The bus in question bore the First Student logo.  Although I am willing to provide the bus number, I believe that this is as much the fault of misplaced parental expectations, as it may be that of the driver who, as I mentioned above, should not have to deal with the subsequent potential wrath of someone whose tardy child has been left behind on the sidewalk.

Placing Salaries in the School Budget Pot

One of the foremost items which should be included in the preliminary Bridgewater-Raritan 2011-2012 School Budget now being prepared is a provision for the salaries of principals, supervisors, teachers and other employees. 

Last summer on July 1^th, 2010, the current three-year contract with the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association entered its third and final year with an annual increase of 4.35%.

That contract included a three-year compound increase of slightly over 13% for teachers.  A new multi-year contract needs to be negotiated to take effect on July 1, 2011. (Similarly, new contracts for the principals and supervisors also have to be negotiated.)

Whether or not that dialogue has begun, the budget now being prepared for 2011-2012 should contain at least an estimated number for projected salaries, obviously including any tentative pay increase for the next school year(s).  (Or no increase, if that is the strategy.) 

Disclosing the details of such a budget would signal to the community whether or not the B-R Board of Education will adopt a pliable stance, or whether it will resolve to approach negotiations with the three major unions armed with the economic realities of our times.

 

If prior practice holds, the public will not know what the board’s position is towards employee unions.

The argument against disclosure is the usual one:  Contract negotiations must be held behind closed doors and negotiated in secret:  Hence no line item detail in the preliminary budget because that would reveal what the salary target is. 

The B-R BOE needs to grasp the bull by the horns; include a zero-increase salary number in the preliminary budget and begin to negotiate its contracts with the three associations accordingly.

Bridgewater and Raritan taxpayers can no longer afford union/school board contract negotiation practices which were employed in bygone salad days.  That approach left the public in the dark about what was being discussed and when it was being discussed.

Two significant issues are at stake:  1. the board’s decision on salary levels, and 2. making that decision known in advance so that the entire Bridgewater-Raritan community can make its views known and exert its influence. 

A Delightful Afternoon of Musical Entertainment

An afternoon with the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band

Sunday afternoon, to the delight of an appreciative audience, the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band led by conductor Larry Markiewicz executed a flawless performance of holiday music in the auditorium of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

This large band ensemble is a volunteer group of music devotees who perform for the love of their craft.  Their devotion to music was amply demonstrated on Sunday, as the group delivered one rendition after another with spirited verve and gusto.

Mr. Markiewicz is one of the band directors at the Bridgewater-Raritan High School and has had a distinguished and varied musical career in America, Japan and England.  For example, his bio states that he instructed a brass ensemble that played in the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in Atlanta.

The hour-long concert offered the friendly audience a wide range of musical arrangements, but its emphasis was on traditional holiday fare in celebration of Hanukkah and Christmas.  

The final piece was a rousing delivery of John Philip Souza’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.  It brought back memories of listening to the Boston Pops on TV, performing the same arrangement at the Esplanade on Boston Common.  It might as well have been, because the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band’s delivery under Mr. Markiewicz was that good.

C’était merveilleux!  (It was marvelous!)